Absolute MADNESS At The Call Of Duty League (Weekend Recap)
[Editor's Note:This is another guest blog from prospective Gaming blogger, @UnfilteredNerd, who knows his stuff and then some. Go and give him a follow.]
If it feels like every week I’m saying “that was the best weekend of CoD League action we’ve seen”, you’re right. Each Home Series has been better and better than the last, with this weekend’s LA Home Series being one of the most insane eSports events I’ve ever witnessed. Let’s dive right into the recap:
Welcome To The CoD League OpTic LA, Glad You Could Finally Make It
Everything was going chalk on Saturday until OpTic LA finally decided it was time to wake the fuck up. Even in their opening match, the Battle for LA against the LA Guerillas, they were staring down a potential sweep as the Guerillas jumped to a 2-0 lead early on. But something kicked inside those OpTic players after that second match (probably an overload of adderall and caffeine), and they came out swinging the rest of the day. They not only completed a reverse sweep against LA Guerillas, they shocked everyone by sweeping a top 4 team in the Minnesota Rokkr later that evening. We’re talking about a team that until this weekend had a whopping ZERO points to their name, and somehow scrapped their way to a semi-final berth. They would lose in the semis to Dallas, the eventual champs, but it was a big weekend for OpTic LA. They need to string a few more of them together though to dig out of that early hole.
Atlanta Goes DOWN, Minnesota Rokkr Are Officially Contenders
I was pretty stunned when OpTic LA swept the Rokkr on Saturday night. I chalked it up as a fluke but still, this weekend was supposed to be an easy road to the semis for Minnesota. But it didn’t really matter because once again, they took the fight to the Atlanta FaZe. I could watch these two teams battle for hours; they’re one of the most electric matchups we’ve seen in the CoD League to date. Both matches have gone to a Game 5 and each game has been close as hell. This loss does nothing to FaZe other than prove that they’re vulnerable. On the other hand though, the win makes Minnesota officially contenders. They’ve done basically everything now other than win a Home Series title, which I’m sure they do before the season is over. Also, we’re seeing two stars rise to the top in GodRx and Alexx. At least one, if not both, are top 5 players in this league and should be for the remainder of the season.
Dallas Has Figured It Out
Going into the weekend, I thought this would be a Minnesota vs Atlanta matchup for sure. But the more I watched how Dallas played this weekend, the more I started to question whether they would take the title home instead. Let’s be honest: they got really lucky that Minnesota beat Atlanta in the semis. That’s not to discredit their dramatic win over the Rokkr in the Finals, but I don’t think they’d be taking home the title if Atlanta had beat Minnesota considering that FaZe swept Dallas easily in the group stage. But that’s neither here nor there; Dallas are your LA Home Series champions. I tweeted earlier in the day Sunday that Empire youngsters Shotzzy and Illey needed to step it up if they had any chance at keeping their starting spots, and boy did they deliver. Crim fucking sucked in that Final, and it was the youngsters play along with Clayster’s dominance that brought Dallas their first title of the season.
Play(s) Of The Weekend - The Two Most Insane Hardpoint Endings Of The Season
You want me to pick just one?!? ONE PLAY?!? OUT OF ALL THIS MADNESS?!? Fuck right off. I can’t. But how about both of those Hardpoint clutches by Minnesota against Atlanta and Dallas in the Sunday tournament. In both cases, if the Rokkr lose that game, they’re done. But these boys from the north were born with ice in their veins. They know how to win the close matches and that’s why they’re one of the best teams in the league.
Gambling Picks Update
Not as dominant of a performance as going 8-2 with picks in Atlanta, but I’ll take a 7-5 weekend any day especially considering all the craziness that happened in that LA Home Series. My overall record for CoD League betting this season is now 15-10. So to all the people on Twitter and in the comment section that tried to chirp me saying that I didn’t know what I was talking about: fade me. I fucking dare you. Also, can just ONE FUCKING SPORTSBOOK be competent and put CoD League lines up throughout the weekend?!? Please?!?
The Unfiltered Nerd’s Power Rankings (Prior Ranking In Parentheses)
NOTE: For the first time since Launch Weekend, all teams have played the same number of events.
1. Atlanta FaZe (1) - Like I said earlier, the loss to Minnesota doesn’t mean anything more than Atlanta isn’t as invincible as everyone thought. They can lose, and did. But they’re still one of the best teams in the league by a wide margin and they didn’t do enough this weekend to lose that spot to a bye week team.
2. Chicago Huntsman (2) - BYE
T-3. Minnesota Rokkr (3)
T-3. Dallas Empire (4) - I can’t put one of these teams over the other. Sure, Dallas technically should be above Minnesota since they beat them in the Finals and now have a Home Series title to their name, but Dallas hasn’t done shit against Atlanta. They’re actually 0-6 against the FaZe youngsters. Meanwhile, the Rokkr have taken the best team in the CoD League to Game 5 not once, but twice, with a huge clutch win in the 2nd match. Both of these teams are officially contenders after this weekend.
5. Florida Mutineers (5) - I know this is the most obvious statement in the world, but they really missed Prestinni’s presence this weekend. If there was any doubt how crucial he is to this team’s success, it's gone now. Newcomer Fero did OK in his stead, but this team needs at least one change to be made. If I’m calling the shots, I’d replace Havok with Fero for the next series. Kid has just not been consistent enough and the stats show it. But don’t count this team out just yet, they’re officially the new “dark horse” of the league, especially when Prestinni is in the lineup.
6. London Royal Ravens (6) - BYE
7. Paris Legion (7) - BYE
8. OpTic Gaming LA (12) - The biggest surprise of the weekend is also this week's biggest mover. These guys were on another level on Saturday. But the biggest question has to do with consistency: can they perform on that level when it matters? We’ll have to wait until Chicago to find out.
9. Seattle Surge (9) - This team needs to be blown up. Like seriously, there is only one player on this team that even deserves a spot on the starting lineup. Octane is so fucking good and I hate seeing him paired with teammates that let him down every single game. I don’t know if he needs to be traded or they just need to hunt for talent from Challengers (the D-League), but this team needs some major changes and they need them now. I will give Pandur a pass though; it was his first weekend starting and he played decent enough to keep his spot for at least one more Home Series.
10. Toronto Ultra (10) - BYE
11. New York Subliners (8) - That win against Paris in the London Home Series is starting to look more and more like a fluke and less like a sign that this team is turning around. Unlike Seattle, there isn’t really anyone that stands out. Everyone is just outmatched at this level. Maybe it's time to get creative and trade for some bench players. I just don’t know if anyone wants to trade for anything on this squad.
12. LA Guerrillas (11) - I know they’re in 12th in both the standings and my power rankings, but at least there’s some life here again. Vivid and Blazt showed some sparks against OpTic and maybe throughout the season they’ll get better as a team. At the moment though, they’re not ready for the spotlight. They need to make some major strides before they even have a shot to win a match against a decent opponent.
What’s Next?
We actually have three weeks until the next Home Series in Dallas, so I’d expect a lot of roster changes coming. New York actually signed a new player Sunday morning after yet another disappointing weekend, and that’s not the only move I think they’ll make. London has been rumored to be making a move sometime soon, and I can’t imagine Seattle is gonna to leave Octane out to dry for too much longer. We may see our first trade of the season soon as well.
But when the dust settles, everyone will be headed to the Dallas Home Series on March 28th-29th. Will we see Chicago or Dallas become the first team to win two Home Series titles this season, will Florida or Minnesota capture their first, or will insanity reign supreme once again? It’s gonna be another great weekend. See you then fuckers.
PS - Tomorrow at 11am. Prepare. For. #Warzone. Be ready.